TransActions – February/March 2015

The Sun Will Come Out For Utility Scale Solar Projects

Many of us working in the electric industry can remember the days where the tinkerers would add solar to their roof tops to save on their power bills. We roll our eyes and scoff that the pay back is forever, even with tax incentives. Well, times have changed because utility scaled solar projects (500 kW – 10 MW) are now at a low enough cost that the energy generated will be less than the typical retail cost of energy.

Many electric cooperative, municipal utility and government clients offer a range of energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) programs to their customers (called “members” in the electric cooperative world). Many electric utilities seeking guidance relating to best practices for the design, implementation and evaluation of EE & DR programs. This article presents a snapshot of the latest information on such EE & DR best practices and provides citations to best practices studies developed by the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency.

Request for Proposals

GDS offers expertise in the management of resource solicitation projects and the evaluation of sales proposals. From production and release of the solicitation, to final contract negotiation, we have managed dozens of national solicitations resulting in substantial long-term power cost savings.